Will the Ford V10 Engine Ever Make a Comeback?

Remember the Days When a V8 was the Only Engine You Wanted in a Truck? Then Ford Decided to Stuff a V10 in One

When the big Ford V10 debuted in 1999, it was a straight replacement for the venerable and long-running 7.5 liter 460 V8. The new 6.8 liter V10 slotted at the top of the gasoline engine lineup for the Super Duty of that era. Therefore producing 50 to 60 more horsepower, and 75 to 90 more lb-ft of torque than the 5.4 liter V8.

The Ford V10 saw service not only in the Super Duty, but also the mighty Excursion SUV. That particular configuration was available from 2000 until 2005. Today, you can only get the V10 in the chassis-cab E-450 and E-550. Discreetly, Ford has virtually phased out the big gasoline engine from its lineup. But why did this happen?

The first and most obvious answer is: gas mileage. The Ford V10 is an absolute gas-guzzler by modern standards. Single digit mpg figures are common while driving around town, or towing a trailer. As a result, you’ll be lucky to get close to 13 or 15 mpg on the highway. When gas was less than $1 per gallon as it was in the ’90s, it wasn’t much of an issue.

The V10 has also been rendered virtually useless by the modern Ford V8. The new V8’s put out similar power numbers with superior gas mileage. Consequently, they are much cheaper to produce. Engine technology has progressed to the point where we don’t need ten cylinders to produce big power and big torque anymore.

Factor in the popularity and capability of diesel engines, and a gasoline V10 is quite honestly pointless. Ever increasing CAFE standards don’t help, either. The fact remains that a bigger engine doesn’t yield enough benefits over its brethren to keep it in the lineup.

Unfortunately (for fans of big gasoline engines anyway), it doesn’t look like we’ll ever see another V10 in a passenger truck. And don’t be surprised if it disappears from Ford’s lineup altogether in the coming years!